First up, OJ Simpson:
According to the AP, OJ Simpson was tipped off by a dealer that the memorabilia he is now accused of orchestrating an attempted armed robbery over was his. That dealer is also the person who recorded the entire confrontation in the Las Vegas hotel room.
It sure sounds like Simpson believes it was his. And maybe it was. But why go in with the entrance he did? It is OJ we're talking about here, not the most diplomatic personality when it comes to resolving personal disputes. But now, the loot will never make it's way back to him, and the likely ultimate recipient of it all, including the suit OJ wore the day he was convicted and his Hall of Fame certificate is the Goldman family. The stash will go into evidence, and once the case is closed, their claim of ownership will be addressed. One wonders if there isn't a connection between Goldman and the dealer that recorded the whole affair in the hotel room.
Don't get me wrong: I hold no sympathy for OJ Simpson. I believe he a murderer who got off scott-free, and is now shirking his financial responsibilities stemming from the subsequent wrongful death suit filed by the Goldman family. And the "hypothetical" tell-all book, "If I Did It" he tried float only made the bile climb higher in my throat.
It's just too bad all this couldn't have been solved 13 years ago by a competent Los Angeles District Attorney's office.
Next, Dan Rather's lawsuit against CBS.
This all stems from the 60 Minutes expose in 2005, that Rather anchored which attempted to prove that President George W. Bush shirked his Air National Guard service. It then came out that the crucial linchpin of the case, documents provided by the late Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, a former commander of Bush's, were forgeries.
One wonders, although apparently not in the mainstream media, how those documents were passed on to CBS, and more importantly, who would take the time to make them. And why. It came out pretty quickly that the font the documents were typed in was not available back in the early 70s. And from there it was easy to deduce they were actually made on a modern computer. The fallout ensued, ending with an apology from Dan Rather and CBS, and Rather's ultimate dismissal just a couple months later.
The ultimate result of the fiasco was that the entire idea of Bush the Draft Dodger was discredited, although in reality the assertion simply remained unproved. But it was the perfect path towards removing the stain on the President after having taken his 2nd Oath of office that January.
The debate had raged throughout the campaign that both sides had besmirched military records, which is astounding to me considering that John Kerry was the one who actually served in Vietnam and had the medals to prove it. That Sen. Kerry simply rolled over as the politically motivated - and funded - "Swift-boat Veterans For Truth" practically accused him of being a baby killer, is the bigger conspiracy in my book, however. He was a wet noodle on the issue, letting all the allegations stick to him like sauce on freshly cooked pasta. Ostensibly refusing to sling mud, he sunk himself and his campaign by letting the Bush goons run roughshod on him.
Both were members of Skull and Bones, Yale's secret student society. From Wikipedia:
Skull and Bones members often engage in overt nepotism after college, enriching each other immensely in corporate life.
And finally, it is my sincere hope that it can be proven that Steve Dahl had a reasonable anticipation that his recent comments (scroll down to 4:14 - it starts with the Japanese biker line) could be inciting.
Even joking about vehicular homicide and reckless endangerment is no laughing matter. Especially when this happens. If I hadn't have overslept, I would've been in that paceline. I have nothing more to say on the matter than my teammates already have, other than this: please email Mr. Dahl with nothing more than than the words, "Share the road, and have a nice day." Engaging back with Dahl's kind of hate only escalates an already ugly situation.
There are emotionally unstable people everywhere, and it gets dangerous when they have a gun, a lawyer, or a car. So many people forget that they are just another flesh and blood average human being when driving an automobile. It seems that the vehicle's expanded space, it's insulating affect on the driver, the rumbling horsepower between his legs, seems to bestow a false sense of power that leads to lashing out irrationally without thought for the destructive power they have at their disposal. Like a three-year-old with a hammer in a room full of Fabergé eggs. The realization only hits them after the bodies are lying crumpled and motionless underneath their wheel. Sometimes not even then.
This conflict had better get resolved soon. Oil is on it's way to $100 a barrel, and I believe we are already seeing the effects of Peak Oil. There are a lot more cyclists out there these days, and while we have responsibilities to ride within the rules set by cars, the infrastructure is changing drastically. There are more bike lanes every year. More workplaces are adding accommodations for their cycle-commuting employees. And more and more municipalities are seeing the solution to their congestion and pollution woes coming to them on two, forward thinking, visionary wheels. The Bikes Are Coming, and they will save the world.
The next time you come across a single biker just heading to the store, or a whole a paceline in spandex, remember that. Your only going to be 20 seconds late to that next light, max. And in return, there is less demand raising the price of gas, and one more parking space available. Take a deep breath. You're a person, just like us.
No comments:
Post a Comment